Marine Patrol Officers Wesley Dean, right, and Will Reinsborough pick up Clyde Penney, 57, of Hallowell from the banks of the Kennebec River in Chelsea on Tuesday after Penney lost control of a kayak. Fire crews from several agencies searched the river banks for more than an hour after a kayak was reported floating without a paddler in the raging river just after 2 p.m. Police said he was uninjured. Kennebec Journal photo by Andy Molloy
CHELSEA — A Hallowell man who took a kayak out on the Kennebec River on Tuesday afternoon, capsized in the flood level waters and caused public safety personnel to spend two hours trying to get him to safety.
Clyde Penney, 57, was rescued from the banks of the Kennebec River in Chelsea by Marine Patrol officers Wesley Dean and Will Reinsborough after he lost control of a kayak and capsized in the river. Fire crews from several agencies searched the river banks for more than an hour after a kayak was reported floating without a paddler in the raging river just after 2 p.m.
Hallowell resident Emily Zimmermann was walking near the Hallowell boat launch along the river when she said she heard a voice yelling, “We need a boat” and she spotted a man standing on the opposite side waving a paddle.
The Marine Patrol picked Penney up and returned him to where he launched in Hallowell just before 4 p.m. Police said he was uninjured.
Marine Patrol officers cautioned that the Kennebec River is swollen with rain and a dangerous place to paddle currently.
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